The Monster Mash Single That Inspired A Career In Broadcasting

The Halloween favorite, "The Monster Mash," was originally released in 1962 on the Garpax record label. The novelty song was by artist Bobby "Boris" Pickett. "The Monster Mash" made it all the way to number one and charted more than once over the years. The studio producers used sound effects (like the sound of a coffin opening) that were imitated by a rusty nail being pulled out of a board. The sound of a cauldron bubbling was simulated by water being bubbled through a straw.

The Halloween favorite has been clawing its way on the charts every year since. It’s been covered by maybe the most eclectic group of bands of any song ever (the Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Vincent Price, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Smashing Pumpkins, and The Misfits, but the original is still the preferred classic. Also when it comes to lists of the best of Halloween music. The song tops almost all the lists.

In 1968 my favorite Aunt Linda Randall went to Michigan State University in the broadcast arts and other fields. Which amazed me and gave me some of her record albums and 45' records she had when she came to visit. In the stack of 45's was The Monster Mash. on the original label. First pressing record. To some that doesn't seem much, but to a record collector it means everything. Some recordings change over the years as some records are released with different recordings of the song. I was so happy to get these records and looked up to my Aunt Linda as an inspiration for what I wanted to be later in life. Who would have guessed it would turn into a forty-year career in radio?

The condition of the 45, if it were graded, is pretty poor. I played it on so many nonconventional record players and it was not kept in a sleeve for many years. I do have a better copy of the song. Something about the old worn-out grooves on this record brings back memories of listening to records in my room or in my basement which doubled as a floor hockey rink. Still sounds great and during this Halloween season, Pickett is getting played once again.

I'm not the only one feeling the Halloween spirit... check out what Doni has going on.

I LOVE HALLOWEEN ROCK!

I may have mentioned this once or a THOUSAND TIMES.  Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's fun, there's candy and a tremendous amount of JAMS! It wasn't easy to narrow my favorites down to ten, but I did. Which songs would you put in your top ten?  There are so many to choose from!  Alice and Ozzy are MUST HAVES on any list.  I found a great Halloween playlist on AZCentral.com.  Their list has 30 songs and many are different than my picks, but it's a great list.

I chose my songs based on Halloween party vibes.  I love the slower Halloween songs, like The Eagles' "Witchy Woman," but I wanted to keep the list to ten, so I chose songs I could hear being played at a party. I also threw some curveballs in.

The great thing about music is that you can take it anywhere and it adds to the moment... everything is better with music.  Happy Halloween!

Here's hoping for good trick-or-treating weather!  It's hard to argue the sensibility of Trunk or Treat when we had a beautiful weekend and our usual TRASH weather for Halloween.  Reminds me of my Michigan childhood... those cheap K-Mart costumes that you couldn't breathe through and my mom making me wear my winter coat over the plastic shirt part. LOL- Whatever!  I've got candy!  Come and get it, kids!

The original MTV video is awesome, but the only one I could find looked like someone recorded it with a VCR recorder in the '80s.  Instead, here's the very cool, Tim Burton video.

THIS.. is Halloween. I love it!

This video features an impossibly young Dick Clark and Bobby performing live... he OWNS it.

Pure Alice.  It's so hard to choose just ONE Alice Cooper song to represent the Halloween feels.  I chose "Welcome to My Nightmare" because it is the epitome of a scary Halloween movie and the video is amazing.

You can't have Halloween classic rock without Warren Zevon.  Amazingly, this song started out as a homework assignment from the Everly Brothers.  You can get the story behind this song and 12 other intentional Halloween rock songs HERE

Who doesn't associate a full moon with Halloween?  Make it a BAD moon and you've really got the Halloween feels going.

Nikki Sixx pushes his boundaries on this one.  Originally the song was "Shout With the Devil" but management asked Motley Crue to tone it down a bit.

Donovan was WAY AHEAD of his time.  This song is more about a drug bust than witches (a witch hunt).  Such a great song and a time capsule of early rock.  I found this cool edit/alternate version for the video. Enjoy!

This song, to me, is the EPITOME of Halloween rock.  As a teen of the '80s, I still love this song, not just on Halloween, but EVERY DAY (see what I did there).

"Thriller" crosses all boundaries... it's pop,R&B and it ROCKS.  Halloween night, no one is leaving the dance floor when this song comes on. It is a classic and it rocks.... and the video is THE BEST!